A Taxing Situation

The other day, as Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing to be Attorney General devolved into the issue of Trump's deal to get immunity from the IRS for his past tax filings forever, an odd thought occurred to me.

To be clear, I got odd thoughts all the time, and some are pretty good (though odd) and worth considering and keeping an eye on. This is not one of those. This falls into the category of "Hey, that's a pretty, good, though odd thought" is is likely to get appreciated, but go absolutely nowhere. But I think it can, at least, be used to embarrass Trump and showcase another instance of his lying.

As we recall, when Trump was first elected back in 2016, the issue of him releasing his taxes came up, since all presidents back to Richard Nixon in 1973 had made their tax filings public. Trump, however, said that he was unable to because he was under audit. Never mind that his excuse wasn't valid -- it's perfectly fine for someone to release their taxes if they're under audit. Never mind, too, if Trump was actually under an audit. That was his excuse -- he was under audit and therefore said he wouldn't release his taxes. That brings us to this repugnant slush fund and tax immunity deal for Trump. Many are still trying to block it, but it's certainly not unreasonable to think it will become a reality. And if it does, that's where my odd thought kicks in, that Trump's monumental greed may have painted himself into a corner. Because what my odd thought is --

If Trump has immunity from all his past taxes, then he can't be under audit. Ever. For any of his taxes. And therefore...by his own argument, he can release them!

Mind you, I don't think Trump will ever release his taxes. A grifter's gotta grift. And it's also possible that this deal will still get blocked. Though given the way his administration operates on High Grift Alert, it seems like it stands a good chance of going through. And that Trump won't ever makes his taxes public. However -- even if it does -- reporters and Democrats can certainly bring the matter up and can ask him about it. And whereas before he had a false "explanation" why he wouldn't release them, it was at least an "explanation." Now that "explanation" would be gone. And all that's left is the tent covering all the grift for everyone to see. And with the greater attention these days on Trump's grift -- given his $2.2 billion in crypto, his $400 million (at a minimum) Qatar airplane, his $1.8 billion scammy slush fund and so much more, along with his 32% approval -- I think embarrassing Trump on the subject of grift carries much more weight than it did before.